Mitchell Roberts v. State of Mississippi

229 So. 3d 1060
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 17, 2017
DocketNO. 2016-KA-00659-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 229 So. 3d 1060 (Mitchell Roberts v. State of Mississippi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mitchell Roberts v. State of Mississippi, 229 So. 3d 1060 (Mich. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶. 1. Mitchell James Roberts was convicted of aggravated driving under the influence (DUI) after a jury found that he operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating substance, specifically, Xanax, which impaired his ability to drive, and negligently caused the death of Arnold Altman Jr, Roberts was sentenced to twenty-five years, with seven years suspended, leaving eighteen years to serve in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, followed by five years of postrelease supervision. Additionally, Roberts was ordered to pay all court costs, a $2,000 fine, and restitution in the amount of $7,150. Following the denial of his posttrial motions, Roberts timely appealed. Upon review, we find, no error and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On July 13, 2013, around 3:00 p.m., fourteen-year-old Altman-Jr., who was a passenger in his father’s .automobile, died when his father’s vehicle was struck head-on by a truck driven by Roberts. The accident occurred on a four-lane bridge on Highway 19 in Meridian.

¶ 3. At the time of the accident, Altman Jr. and his father were traveling to the store. As they were driving, a truck, driven by Roberts and traveling in the opposite direction, crossed the median-like lane, veered into the Altmans’ lane of traffic, and struck the passenger side of the Alt-mans’ vehicle head-on, killing Altman Jr. Many witnesses observed the accident and offered their assistance. Two of the witnesses, Margaret Davis an'd Stephanie Ruffin, were nurses and testified at trial.

¶ 4.. Davis testified that she and her husband were traveling on Highway 19 when Roberts’s,truck veered toward their vehicle, Davis commented to her husband that the driver almost hit them. As her husband continued to drive, Davis turned around and saw the truck veer into oncoming traffic and “implode” into the Altmans’ vehicle. Davis and her husband turned around in order to provide assistance. Davis initially went to Roberts’s vehicle and attempted to give him aid. However, Roberts was incoherent. Davis stated that Roberts was awake, but out of it and could not form a sentence.

¶ 5. In an attempt to explain Roberts’s behavior following the accident, defense counsel suggested that Roberts was suffering from retrograde amnesia. While Davis acknowledged that retrograde amnesia was common in people involved in automobile crashes, she did not think Roberts was suffering from amnesia, but instead thought he appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Davis described Roberts’s face as “diaphoretic,” or sweaty, and his pupils as “pinpoint.”

¶ 6. Ruffin also saw Roberts veer out of his lane, of traffic. Ruffin stated it was not an abrupt move, but instead described Roberts as “gradually drifting” out of his lane. Based on Roberts’s driving, Ruffin assumed he was texting and driving, However, Ruffin stated her assumption changed when she saw the impact.

¶ 7. Ruffin initially went to the Altmans’ vehicle and helped Altman out of the car. However, she noticed Altman Jr. was not responsive and did not have a pulse. She then went to Roberts’s truck. Ruffin described Roberts as “in and out” and stated his speech was slurred. When Ruffin asked Roberts what had happened, Roberts responded that he had “blacked out” or “blanked out.”

¶ 8. Detective Greg Crain of the Meridian Police Department testified that he was called to the scene of the accident at approximately 3:30 .p.m. After Crain assessed the scene and took photographs, he went to the hospital, where he eventually spoke with Roberts. Roberts told Crain that the last thing he remembered was leaving his friend’s house in Collinsville. Roberts asked Crain how the passenger of his truck was doing. However, Crain éxpíained to Roberts that he was the only person in his vehicle. Although Roberts did not recall what he was doing at his friend’s house, he admitted to Crain that he had consumed two beers prior to the accident.

¶ 9. Crain executed an affidavit and obtained a search warrant in order for a sample of Roberts’s blood and urine to be. seized and tested for the presence of drugs and alcohol. The samples were collected at 6:35 p.m., over three hours after the accident occurred.

¶ 10. Kara Jackson, a hospital nurse who treated Roberts in the emergency room, testified that Roberts arrived at 3:28 p.m. and was agitated and cursing, but alert, oriented, and able to follow commands. Jackson described Roberts’s eyes as reactive, equal in size, and small, but not pin-, point. According to Jackson, Roberts’s skin was not diaphoretic when he arrived at the hospital.

. ¶ 11. Jackson noted that Roberts was experiencing “amnesia event retrograde,” since he could not recall any details, of the accident. However, Dr. Lindsey Prewitt, an internal-medicine doctor, testified that based on her consultation with Roberts, there was no indication of retrograde amnesia, and there was nothing in his medical history to support such a finding. Additionally, Dr. William Billups III, a surgeon who treated Roberts in the emergency room, testified that based on his consultation with other specialists, there was no indication of any underlying medical problems, including head injury or. seizure, which might have caused or contributed to the accident. - •

¶ 12. When asked ábout his medical history, Roberts advised the hospital staff that he was not taking any medications and was not being treated for any medical issues. However, the blood test revealed Roberts had benzodiazepines in his system. Specifically, the compound identified in his system was alprazolam, otherwise known as Xanax. 1 Further testing revealed Roberts had fifty-one nanograms per milliliter of Xanax in his system. According to expert testimony, this amount of Xanax-is within the therapeutic range. Roberts did not test positive for alcohol.

¶ 13. Maury Phillips, the State’s toxicology expert, testified that Xanax is usually prescribed -to manage anxiety or panic disorders. Phillips1 stated that the two most common side effects of Xanax are drowsiness and light-headedneSs, but also include confusion, sweating, slurred speech, pinpoint pupils, and “Syncope,” which “means that you might faint or black out.” Phillips' explained that the effects of and tolerance to Xanax varied from person to person and were influenced by the duration of use and the amount taken.

¶ 14. Importantly, Phillips testified that impairment can still occur within the therapeutic range. He explained that there was not a direct correlation between driving impairment and drug concentration “like we have for alcohol to say that if you’re a certain number, you’re impaired.”

, ¶ 15. Phillips admittedly did not review Roberts’s medical records and was unable to render an opinion as to whether Roberts was driving impaired based on the concentration of Xanax alone, since the amount in his system was within the therapeutic range.

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Bluebook (online)
229 So. 3d 1060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mitchell-roberts-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2017.